BEATLES PINBALL – MORE DETAILS

More pictures of the Stern Pinball/Ka-Pow Pinball collaboration, The Beatles: Beatlemania Pinball, have been released showing the different cabinet and backbox artwork and trim styles across the three models.

The Gold is the lowest model, having a maximum of 1,614 machines made. It features gold-effect metalwork and the cabinet artwork package originally shown on the Diamond edition. The Diamond now has an all-new set of artwork as you will see shortly.

The left side of the Gold modelThe right side of the Gold modelThe lock bar finish and unnumbered bottom arch plaque on the Gold model

The middle model is the Platinum Edition and it is here that we see the first of the new cabinet art designs. In this instance it is a variant of the layout used for the translite in the Gold Edition, while the translite gets its inspiration from the Gold’s cabinet design.

The left side of the Platinum modelThe right side of the Platinum modelThe Platinum lock bar and numbered plaque

While the Platinum Edition’s cabinet artwork takes the block font from the Gold Edition for the band’s name and pushes it more into the background, showing the more traditional logotype on the drum kit, the Diamond Edition reverts entirely to the more established The Beatles typeface.

The left side of the Diamond Edition modelThe right side of the Diamond Edition modelThe lock bar and plaque on the Diamond Edition

All cabinet photographs show a large decal covering the coin door, leading to the suggestion the game would not come with coin slots and couldn’t be operated. This is not the case. Coin slots and coin mechs can be specified on any of the games in order to operate them, but the software is set to free play by default.

Other than the cosmetic differences differentiating the three models, the certificates of collectability for the upper two and the real backglass on the Diamond, the playfields are understood to be identical on all three.

Talking of the playfield, let’s take a closer look at some of the new features added to the original Seawitch design.

The grab magnet at the top of the orbit shotThe pop bumpers areaThe spinning magnet discThe skill shot from the shooter laneThe mystery award standup target and the super jackpot target behind the dropsThe lower part of the playfieldThe flipper area showing Seawitch designer, Mike Kubin’s name on the record player

We noted how, in the initial announcement, there was no pricing information for potential customers looking to buy the game. We understand the game is being offered to distributors as a pack of ten machines – 7 x Gold, 2 x Platinum + 1 x Diamond – for a total price of $70,000 (subject to negotiation). Distributors are then free to set their own retail prices.

Details of what’s in the game are shown in a generic promotional flyer which is common to all three models. It also shows the addition of a ninth song – Taxman – which is used for general play when one of the other mode songs is not running. The songs used have been edited to match the duration of the modes or so that they loop cleanly.

The flyer for The Beatles: Beatlemania Pinball

The game is now in production at the Stern Pinball factory in Chicago. The first chance to play the game will be this coming weekend at the IAAPA trade show in Orlando, Florida, where Stern Pinball will have a stand featuring several The Beatles games alongside some of their other recent titles.

The annual UK amusement and coin-op trade show is bacckk at ExCel London in the Docclands area of the capital. Often a launchpad for various companies’ new releases, expect a presence from Stern Pinball on …